testimony

Sean Dwight: Prayer Brings the Prodigal Home

The 700 Club

CBN.com
 There’s no mystery in Sean Dwight’s mind why he is alive today. The unsolved mystery is who struck the blow to his head that crushed his skull. It nearly killed him.

Was it a random act of violence? Was it drug related? Or was it an act of vengeance by his wife’s new lover?

Knowing Sean’s lifestyle at the time reveals that any of those scenarios are possible. One thing is for sure. Sean’s mom was a hero that fateful night and throughout his life.

When Sean Dwight was 5 years old, his dad walked out on his family. His mom held on tightly to her faith in god – even though she was devastated by her husband’s abandonment. Her example was enough to convince young Sean that he wanted that faith for himself.

“I went to her and said, Mom, I want what you have. There’s something different about you. And she basically led us into salvation,” Sean says.

Several years later, Sean’s mom relocated her family so that she could finish her studies at a bible college. There, a respected friend became like a father to Sean and several other young boys.

“So this guy took us camping, took us fishing, took us to hotels,” he says. “He did lots of things with us… what a dad would have done.”

Sadly, his mentorship came with a price.

“I was sexually molested and I couldn’t help it from happening,” Sean says. “I was being told that it was acceptable, that it was OK.”

Sean never told his mom about the abuse. Immediately after high school graduation, Sean took a job to help provide for his mom – whose tutoring job was eliminated because of school budget cuts.

“I was paying the phone bill, the food bill, the rent because my mom had no money and unemployment ran out,” he says.

Sean’s hard work to provide for his mom’s care gradually turned into a growing resentment.

“I felt that my mom became a burden to me,” he says. “That’s when I just wanted to break free and experience the fun the other kids were having.”

But his longing to “fit in” came with a big price tag.

“The first party there were kegs, marijuana, and cigarettes. The drugs escalated from the marijuana. Then, it went to the cocaine, then the LSD. Then, it went to crack,” he recalls.

When Sean’s mom was able to work again, he moved to Miami and took a job with an international airline. Along with the new job, the opportunities that opened up were sky high.

“I would go to Brazil and get cocaine. I was bringing marijuana back from Mexico or I’d take it with me,” he says.

Sean’s partying landed him in and out jail several times. That and the threat of losing his job weren’t enough to make him re-think his lifestyle. Instead, it escalated to the point where he was spending close to 300 dollars per week on crack.

“With the need to get more crack all the time, I took advantage of whatever situation I could get. Whether I was stealing, a little here, a little there or taking things and pawning them or selling my own blood,” Sean says. “It was just out of control. My life was out of control.”

Sean married a woman who lived the same decadent lifestyle as he did.

Sean naively thought that he was sheltering his mom from his drug, sex, and alcohol-filled life, but she knew. She just kept on praying for her son.

“I was always on my mom’s heart through prayer because she knew I wasn’t living right,” Sean says. “I would go outside my house, smoking a cigarette, look up at the stars and cry out to God. I was praying and I said Lord, ‘if there is any way…. I was praying for a way out.’”

That’s when his wife told him that she wanted out of their marriage. Then, he lost his job at the airline after he showed up to work drunk. Sean decided to leave Miami, but not before his friends threw him one last blow-out party. At 5 a.m., he was too broke to call a cab, so Sean began walking the 7 miles home. What happened next still remains a mystery.

“I was knocked out instantly. I was knocked out suddenly and I don’t know how it happened,” he says. “I do remember bits and pieces of laying on the ground. I knew something was wrong.

“I couldn’t get up and I was in and out of consciousness. It was all dark and gray. I don’t remember what happened after that until I got to the hospital. I don’t remember the police. I don’t remember the ambulance.”

Sean’s skull was fractured and pieces of it lodged in his brain. The doctors gave little hope for recovery and less hope that Sean wouldn’t be paralyzed, crippled, or mentally handicapped. His mom reacted to the news by doing what she always did. She prayed. She made calls for prayer, including The 700 Club prayer line. Amazingly, five days later Sean walked out of the hospital.

“I am completely whole today because of the prayers that were going on when I was in the hospital,” he says.

Sean took the 36-hour bus ride back to New York. This time, his trip wasn’t a drug-filled ride. The hours on the bus became a journey of reflection and soul-searching.

“On that bus, I prayed and I committed that I was gonna serve God with all my heart,” he says. “And I threw my crack pipe away on that bus. I got back on a Saturday and on that Sunday I was back in church.”

Sean was welcomed home by his mom, but his path to recovery was just beginning. He committed to return to the God of his youth.

“I knew I could not do it on my own. And I trusted Him to give me the strength to overcome the addictions and to not go back,” Sean says.

Several months later, his mom passed away. It was devastating to Sean, but he held on to one truth that he believed with all of his heart.

“She saw the fulfillment of all her prayers. She saw the answer to all of her prayers. And so I know she went home happy,” he says.

Now, Sean is happily married and runs a prosperous business. He’s eternally thankful for a mom who believed in the power of prayer - and he’s humbled that the Heavenly Father he walked away from for so many years would welcome home his wayward son.

“I’m blessed and I’m prosperous and I’m healthy and I’m happy,” Sean says. “I recommend anybody out there to listen to the word of God. And to realize that it is the truth that will set you free.”